CIToxLAB is made up of French preclinical contract research organisation CIT and its Canadian counterpart Lab Research, which had been struggling under price pressure in the US and had been looking for a buyer for several months.
CIT announced plans to buy Lab Research earlier this year, shortly after an unnamed US private equity firm that had been in talks with the Canadian contract research organisation (CRO) lost interest in the deal.
At the time CIT said the acquisition was part of an effort to expand its business globally by adding Lab’s research facilities in Quebec, Canada, as well as those in Denmark and Hungary to its global services network.
Expansion
The new organisation, which expects to generate revenue of around than $100m (€70m) and employ an 800-strong workforce, extends CIT’s service offering according to group president Jean-Francois Le Bigot who spoke with Outsourcing-pharma.com about the deal in May.
“Lab Research provides studies by the inhalation route that CIT didn’t have. European clients already have access to this technology through LAB in Hungary. This could potentially be up and running shortly, for Northern American clients.”
Le Bigot also highlighted the mini-pig animals modelling expertise available at Lab Research’s laboratory in Canada as another of the merger’s significant benefits, suggesting that it would give CIToxLAB the global leadership position in teratogenicity testing.
The new group has also maintained its relationships with CIT’s previous partners in Europe and North America.
These include: Stemina, with which it signed a distribution accord for stem-cell toxicology testing technology in February; French mass spectrometry and immunoassay specialist Atlanbio; and US group Biomodels.